TUG VALLEY BASS ANGLERS

"Tug Valley Bass Anglers Yatesville Lake Tournament

Presented by Gander Mountain"

On March 15th the Tug Valley Bass Anglers held its first tournament of the 2009 season on

Yatesville Lake. There was a great turn out considering the weather, 16 boats competed in the event.

Yatesville was about 6 feet low, which is normal winter pool for this time of year. The water was rising slightly but it was in good shape with a temperature of 43 to 49 degrees. The water was lightly stained and cooler at the lower end of the lake near the dam and became progressively more stained and warmer as you went up the lake.

Weather for the tournament was pretty good for March with rain until noon and cloudy skies the rest of the day. The wind was light and air temperatures warmed to around 55 degrees. It could have been worse, it snowed 6" just a couple of days earlier.

The fish were in early prespawn patterns, most of them were suspended off channel banks on the main lake. The active fish would come shallow and feed and that was the only ones you could get to bite. The weather the weekend before was in the 70's and the fish were moving in. The cold front came in just before the tournament and pushed them back off.

The main pattern for this tournament was to fish crankbaits and suspending jerkbaits on or near channel banks. The catchable fish were fairly shallow, 5 foot or less, but deeper water had to be close. Channel ledges further up the lake also produced some fish.

The top finishers are as follows.

1st--Mitch Salmons --- (3 fish) 9.38 lbs.

2nd--Lacy Edmiston --- (1 fish) 6.22 lbs.

3rd--Brandon Staten --- (2 fish) 3.86 lbs.

4th--Lynn Fields --- (1 fish) 2.79 lbs.

5th--Brad May --- (1 fish) 2.32 lbs.

6th--Kevin Runyon --- (1 fish) 1.78 lbs.

Thanks to our sponsors Gander Mountain, TMK Security and Personnel, Borders Sporting Goods, Elliott Supply & glass, Perry Distributors, Don's Street Machine, Extreme Sounds, Pigeon Creek Log Company, Appalachian Wireless and Thoroughbred Steakhouse.